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Two farmers lead the race for the 4th Congressional District

KENNEWICK, Wash. -- The polls have closed and the unofficial results are in, no surprise here, there was one clear race everyone was watching. “Doc Hastings is gone and we wanted to vote for his replacement,” said one voter turning in his ballot just before 8pm.

As of Tuesday night, Dan Newhouse and Clint Didier were the top two vote getters running to replace retiring Doc Hastings.

Although they are both farmers, Clint Didier says there are clear distinctions. “He's part of the establishment,” said Didier, talking about Newhouse. “He's got the big companies on his side, the chemical companies, he's been in politics for a long time. I think the people are saying they want new blood.”

But when asked the same question, Newhouse said it's his political understanding that's the biggest difference. "The inability for Congress to get anything done or the inability for people to work with people that they don't necessarily agree with politically, but to find common ground and to solve issues that our country definitely surely needs addressed,” said Newhouse, ”I think that's something that sets me apart."

Although Didier and Newhouse are the top two now, the race still remains unofficial. Just 12,000 votes separate Estakio Beltran from the top two. And KEPR did the math, there's 22,000 votes left to be counted between the seven counties that make up the 4th congressional district.

Brenda Chilton, the Benton County Auditor says there’s several more days of counting left. “My staff is going to be working hard to finish up those ballots to get the results out as quick as possible, so that everybody knows what the results are," she said.